The darkly comedic story follows a trio of 30-something, least-likely-to-succeed characters— a nonprofit do-gooder, self-imploding trust-funder and a phony self-help guru — in a world where a super-powerful “other Internet” threatens to privatize information, enslaving humankind. A funny, emotionally resonant page-turner, Shafer’s debut is the thinking man’s answer to popular post-apocalyptic techno-thriller genre.

Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner by Judy Melinek MD and T.J. MitchellScribner

Whether it’s death by egg-roll machine, shoddy scaffolding or falling through an open manhole, there’s gallows humor galore in this medical examiner’s fascinating but sure to gross-you-out memoir. One thing’s certain, you’ll never look at your tabby the same way: “Your faithful golden retriever might sit next to your dead body for days” she writes. “Your pet cat will eat you right away, with no qualms at all.”

Everyone’s been there. After a night of tying one too many on and desperate to chow down, you come home to a fridge with only pickles, mustard and hot sauce. This is precisely the element where Hart, Internet celebrity cook du jour, thrives — and proves so in wacky cookbook. Sober, the recipes sound downright inedible — Saltine nachos and Layzagna (frozen lasagna with potato chips) — but after a few cocktails start to reveal their charms.

The Kills by Richard HousePicador

One-word review: Wow. This 1,000+ page Man Booker Prize finalist, a beast of a novel, consists of four interconnected books — and even a book within a book. There’s a lot here and it’s not easy to sum up, but here goes: The story initially covers the seedy underworld of contractors in postwar Iraq. We follow a British mercenary on the lam for stealing from an American-funded revitalization project, then we jump back in time to hear his back story and finally — in Book 3 — things go really bonkers and you’re in a novel the characters in Book 1 were reading. Confused? That’s OK, you can always wait for the television series.

Violins of Hope: Instruments of Hope and Liberation in Mankind’s Darkest Hour by James A. GrymesHarper Perennial

Musicologist Grymes traces the histories of seven violins and their Jewish owners in Nazi Germany. The stories are heartbreaking. One of the violins survived Auschwitz and another accompanied its owner during six years of living on the run. More than a mere history of an instrument, the book shows how music can entertain, soothe and even save lives, proving that even in mankind’s darkest hour: “Wherever there were violins, there was hope.”